Improved railroad-chair



genital .5mm

y Y WILLIAM 4WIoKnnSiirAM, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. teem Patent No. 87,893, dem Maan 16, 1869.

IMPROVED RAILROAD-CHAIR.

The Schedule referred to lin these Lettera Patentand making part of the lama.

To' ali whom 'it ma/y concern.-

Beit known that I, WELTAM Wrcnnnsnnlu, of Boston, in the county of Suiiolk, and State of Mas- .sachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvepanying drawings, and to the figures and letters of ref-` erence marked thereon.

Thenature of my invention consists in so constructing and arranging a chair for the ends of rails in railroads, that it shall secure the rails, andhold them rmly until they are worn out, by means of an elastic force or pressure on said rail.

The first feature of my invention consists in a spring, of India rubber, steel, or any sufficiently elastic substance, so arranged in the chair that itselastic force can be constantly exerted on the angeor other part of the rail, in suchmanner as to `hold it thereby permanentlyrin its place, and continues so to hold it as the rail wears.

The second feature of my invention relates to the method of seeming said spring in its place, and consists in a piston, or key, ,which may be pressed on to the outer end of the spring until its"elastic'force' is sufiicient to secure the rail,'and then locked in this position by turning.

The third feature of my inventionrelates to .the method of securing said spring. against injury, and consists in a cup for the lower end of the spring to rest in, attached to a strip of metal, which is in contact with the rail; also, a cup for the upper end of the spring, to prevent the key from injuring it.

The fourth feature of my invention relates to a device to prevent the liability of breakage of the chair by the sudden jarring or motion of the rail,when metallic wedges or screw-cylinders are used, and consists in placing between the wedge or screw-cylinder and rail, a plate, strip, or bar, which is, in part, or altogether rnade of some substance more elastic than metal, to check and weaken the violent concussive force of the sudden motion of the rail when the train is passing rapidly over it.

. Referring to my drawings- Figure 1 is a plan view of my rail-chair.

Figure 2 is a cross-section through the red lines A and B; it also shows'the apeiture through which the key passes in pressing on to the spring; also shows the key bottom upward.

Figure 3 shows a longitudinal section through the springpkey, cups, each end .of the spring, bar below the spring, and a portion of the rail below the spring and bar.

Figure 4. is a longitudinal section in the red line O, through the wedges, the spring which presses them apart, the compoundelastic bar, the ange of the rail, anda portion of the chair below.

Figure i shows a form of metallic spring, which may be substituted for a rubber spring.

to whichvthe cup c is attached.

ais the rail. b is the chair. c is the rubber spring. d is the key which holds the spring on to the rail. e e are the two cups securing each end of the spring. f is the space or aperture in the chair for the key to enter.

g is the stripof metal between the spring and'rail,

h h are the two wedges.

e' is the elastic bar,`or strip between the wedges and the ange of the rail.

j-is the spiral spring, to move the two wedges apart, thereby pressing them on tothe anges of the rail.

k is a metallic spring, coiled ready for use.

It' is a strip of metal for the same, before coiling.

Having described the' parts, I will now describe the application of my invention.

After having all parts made as shown in the drawings, I place thespring c, with the upper cup e, on it, then I put the bar g, with its cup e, in its place, then put the wedges h h and the elastic strip iu their groove.` This being done, I insert the rail a, as vshown in figs. l and.2.l I then place the key d on to the aperture f, which has a similar form in the upper part to the lower end ofthe key. -I then press the key down until its :danges m m m m will turn round underthe ianges of the aperture n n n n. I then turn the key one eighth round, which locks it, thereby causing the spring c to press down on to the rail with the same force by which the key was pressed on to it.

The elasticity of the rubber spring will insure a conjstant pressure on the rail, holding it firmly in its place, though its thickness may be somewhat reduced by lwearing.

A steel spring, k, may be made`,'of any desirable i power and elasticity, and substituted for thespring '0. If at any time the spring should be found of insufiicient elastic force, the key may be taken out, anda washer may be placed on the top o'f the spring, and the key restored to its place again, making the compression of the spring greater by the thickness of the washer.

When the key is in its position for use, it may be held there by a screw, or, what is perhaps better,f by small indentations on the upper sinface ofthe flanges m m on m, and corresponding projections on the under` lt will be noticed, in hg. 4, that under the wedges h It is a strip, or bar e', whichl has a thin metallic strap on its upper and lower sides.- I make this bare' of rubber, wood, leather, rawhide, or anything which has sufficient elasticity for the purpose of checking or 'modifying the concussive force of the vibrations of the rail when the train runs over-"l, as this vibratory force has been found to make too great a strain on the chair, in some cases,.for the strength of the iron, when the chair is firmly bound to the rail by-metal alone. I, therefore, substitute this elastic strip for the metallie strips M, patented by me, Junev 2, 1'868, in connection with the screw-cylinder, and as an improvement on the same, the metallic strip, together with the the spring cor k, substantially as described, .and for the purpose set forth.

v4c. The strip fi, formed of two thin metallic strips,

tween them, as described, and for the purpose set forth.

.5. rIhe strip i, combined with the two wedges h and h,.arranged and operating eonjointly, in the manner described, and for the purpose set forth.

WILLIAM WIGKERSHAM. Witnesses:

A. D. PARKER, JOSEPH P. ROGERS.

3. Theeup e, in combination with the slide g and combined with and enclosing a non-metallic strip be 

